Singapore Solutions

COSCO delays mega-ship deliveries

COSCO and Yang Ming have delayed delivery of mega box ships from 2018 to 2019 – a “positive sign for market development”.

Alphaliner said in its latest newsletter that COSCO is reported to have deferred 10 of the 28 ultra large container ships (ULCS) due to be delivered this year. Yang Ming has also delayed three 14,000 TEU ships from this year to 2019.

He said “One of the major risks for 2018 has been the risk that COSCO would be forced into aggressive pricing action to ensure proper utilisation of the phase-in of the larger vessels they get delivered in 2018. With the postponements this risk is not eliminated but certainly reduced – in turn shifting the market outlook for 2018 to a higher likelihood of relative stability.”

But Alphaliner warned that even with these deferrals, the total new container ship capacity due to be delivered in 2018 is still expected to reach 1.5M TEU. More than 50% of this is expected to be made up of ULCS from 14,000 TEU to 21,000 TEU.